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Household Nuisance Ants
- Several species commonly enter houses in search of food and moisture -
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Summary: A number of ant species commonly invade homes, especially kitchens, in search of food and water. A few species even nest indoors. Most of the time these ants do no damage but should be managed since some nests can become quite large.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What are nuisance ants?
 Some ants, for example fire ants and harvester ants, are important because they sting people and animals. Some, like carpenter ants, are important because they damage building materials. And, some ants get our attention when they enter homes or buildings in large numbers in search of food and water.
The last group of ants usually cause no damage, and pose little health risk, but are important because of their numbers alone. These are the household nuisance ants. Common household nuisance ants are: odorous house ants, Argentine ants, pharoah ants and a few other species.
Other common names: sugar ants, moisture ants, sweet ants
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Ant biology
In terms of life history and behavior (biology) ants are probably the most complicated of all insects. Ants are social insects and as such live in highly organized and efficient colonies. This social organization in turn allows ant colonies to grow large and become severe pests when they invade our homes. See the new, 2008, book below that covers all pest species in great detail.
Most household nuisance ants are yellow, red, brown or black in color. They are constricted at the waist, and 1/8-1/4" long. You may occasional see an ant with wings. These are the "reproductives" of the colony that are responsible for producing offspring, organizing colony activity and establishing new colonies.
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Ants generally nest in soil but a few actually build colonies above ground in natural cavities or the walls of our homes. Ants are generalist scavengers that feed on all sorts of food scraps which allows them to adapt to whatever food sources they find in our homes.
Ant control
While household nuisance ants generally cause no damage in homes they can become so numerous that their mere presence warrants control. The safest, and, it turns out, the best approach to ant control is to use baits (see this article for a homemade ant bait recipe). Baits pose little risk to others in the house and are relatively inexpensive. There is no need to apply insecticide sprays for these pests. In fact insecticide sprays often disperse colonies and make matters worse.
Related information: Nuisance Ants (pdf)
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